


we fell in love in october (that's why i love fall)

by rainbowskissors



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: Ballet, Dorky Regina, F/F, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Janis is new at the studio, More gay, PERIODT, Regina and Cady are Best Friends, Rejanis, dance studio, is - Freeform, superior - Freeform, totally not me projecting lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:40:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27566908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowskissors/pseuds/rainbowskissors
Summary: Janis tried to look like she cared about the fact that Naomi had a cat named Bluebell, or that Brianna liked to paint as a hobby (actually, she kind of liked that), but she couldn't help but focus all her attention on a certain girl's introduction. The girl who'd caught her eye and had left her feeling like she was going to combust just by the soft features on her skin and her beautiful blue eyes.(or, the one where janis decides to sign up for ballet lessons, and doesn't realize she'd fall in love as a bonus)
Relationships: Regina George/Janis Sarkisian
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	we fell in love in october (that's why i love fall)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ifthebookdoesntsell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifthebookdoesntsell/gifts).



> a) this idea came to me while i was in a ballet class over zoom lmao  
> b) i got the headcanon of regina doing ballet from @ifthebookdoesntsell PLS CHECK THEM OUT I LOVE THEIR WORK SO FREAKING MUCH
> 
> lil note for @ifthebookdoesntsell : i love your work so much, i'm sorry if you don't like this fic i just wanted to incorporate your headcanon into one of my fics, as a way to thank you for the joy your writing has brought me <3
> 
> ok enjoy the gay uwu
> 
> title is from 'we fell in love in october' by girl in red

"You said you wanted to sign up!"

"Well, yeah, but that was before I found out we had to wear _those_ ," Janis gripes, pointing to the leotard hanging off the back of her chair. Her dark brown eyes are filled with disdain. 

When Janis had seen the poster outside the grocery store, advertising the nearby dance studio, she'd been intrigued. She'd recently wanted to learn how to dance, loving the feeling of the movement through her body whenever she tried it alone in her bedroom. She'd begged her mom to let her sign up, for at least one year, and eventually she'd given in. Janis had been eagerly anticipating her first class, up until a week before, when her mother had laid out the attire for her class. 

Janis had stared in shock at the white-pink tights and the leotard that looked like it covered the bare minimum of her torso.

 _I am **not** wearing that,_ she'd decided, once her mother had left the room.

But now, it seemed she was obligated to, or else she wouldn't be allowed to participate in the ballet classes. 

Her mother sighs. "Janis, we've gone over this. If you aren't willing to make a full commitment, _don't make it_."

Janis doesn't respond, just grumbles under her breath. They sit in the silence for a while, waiting for the other to give in.

Finally, Janis mutters, "If I go, can I at least not wear the leotard and tights?"

"Janis..." her mother repeats. Janis groans loudly, not willing to give in just yet. She clutches at the last chance she has.

"Please? Just this once. I promise I'll wear them the rest of the year," she pleads, gazing at her mom from where she's sitting on her bed. Her mother, who's standing in the doorframe, gives her a long glance before sighing and pressed her finger to her temple. 

"Fine," she grumbles. Janis's face breaks into a grin, and she pumps her fist, ecstatic.

"But just this once," her mother warns, pointing a finger at her. "Now hurry up! We have to leave in ten minutes, so throw on something you're comfortable with."

Janis rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah," she says quietly, throwing one last look at the navy blue bodysuit hanging over her chair before clambering off her bed. She crosses her room to the dresser and opens the top drawer, eventually deciding on a pair of black shorts and a cropped t-shirt. Underneath she puts on a crop-top, just in case the shirt flutters up while she's dancing.

Examining the outfit in her mirror while playing with the elastic band around her wrists, Janis jumps around and tries a few kicks (almost twisting her ankle in the process) to ensure her clothes aren't too restrictive. When she confirms that they're perfect, she takes the elastic off her wrist and ties her hair back before bouncing out of the room and down the stairs.

At the front door, her mother is waiting. She already has her purse and jacket on, and holds Janis's out at arm's length, waiting for her to take it.

"Do I need a jacket?" Janis asks, grabbing her water bottle. Her mother glares at her.

"Young lady, I'm tired of fighting with you all day. It's October, and the weather is getting colder. Put your jacket on."

(Hence the title!)

"Okay, sheesh," Janis murmurs, before taking her jacket and putting it on. When they have everything they need, they head out the door. 

In the car ride there, Janis sits in silence and ponders. She wonders what her first class will be like.

_Will it be painful? Will I be doing face-high kicks? Will I make friends? What if I make a fool of myself?_

The longer she sits, the more nervous she gets until she's picking at her cuticles anxiously. Her mother peers back through the rearview mirror, and notices her daughter's fidgety behaviour.

"You nervous?" she asks sympathetically. Janis snaps her head to her from where she'd been looking outside. Then she shrugs.

"A little," she admits. Her mother smiles.

"You'll do fine," she reassures her. Janis returns the smile, albeit a smaller one. "Thanks, mom."

With that, they settle back into silence until the dance studio comes into view. 

"Do you want me to walk you in?" her mother asks. Janis considers the option before shaking her head. "I think I'll be okay."

"Alright, then. Good luck," she says. Janis grins, before waving goodbye to her mom as she pulls out of the parking lot and drives away. Clutching her water bottle tightly, Janis enters the building, her breathing becoming more shallow as her nerves overtake her.

Normally, Janis isn't nervous about anything - be it school presentations, art shows, even showing off her baby pictures to her relatives. Those are all things that she does with a sort of cocky pride, which most people admire.

But this would be different. Janis would be exposing her body and its movements to complete strangers, a thought that made her extremely uncomfortable.

Well, hopefully by the end of the year they wouldn't be total strangers. Maybe she could manage to make some friends; that would make the experience much more enjoyable. 

"Hi, are you new here?" a voice asks.

Janis turns to where the voice was coming from. She's facing a brown wooden desk pushed against the orange-painted wall. A woman is sitting behind the desk, smiling at her with a friendly openness. 

"Um, yes. I'm Janis," she says awkwardly, scratching her wrists nervously. The woman glances down and rifles through a couple of papers, her face lighting up when she pulls one of the papers out and reads it.

"Ah, Janis... Sarkisian? Am I pronouncing that right?" she asks. Janis nods. "You're taking the 2020 year classes, correct?" she continues.

"Um, yeah," Janis responds. She spots a clock against the wall behind the woman, and sees that it reads 6:20. She has 10 minutes before her class starts.

Echoing her thoughts, the woman says, "Your first class is ballet, you start at 6:30. Just go through that door, down the hall, and the room to your left is where the class is."

Janis nods a thanks to her, too nerve-wracked to say anything. She twists the handle of the door and goes through, entering a wide hallway.

To her right, there are two bathrooms. Further down is an entrance to a bigger room, and as Janis walks down the hall and passes the arch, she notices it's some sort of cafeteria/lunch area. She continues walking, eventually reaching the room the lady was talking about to her left after a slight twist in the hallway.

Janis takes a deep breath, forcing her heart to slow its pace. She's not sweaty, thankfully, but she'll probably end up sweating after dance - she hadn't participated in much physical exercise since 5th grade track and field, over 5 years ago. After that, she hadn't given two shits about any sports, deeming them boring and too difficult. But suddenly, after watching _The Nutcracker_ with her sister a few years back, she'd gotten infatuated with the art of dance, and had wanted to take lessons ever since.

Now, she was finally getting that chance - but was it worth it?

 _Okay, just go inside. You're ten minutes early, it's not like anyone's in there yet - no point getting worked up. Just go inside,_ she repeated to herself. Before she had a nervous breakdown, she pushed through the door.

It swung open with ease, revealing a large classroom lit up with fluorescent lights hard on Janis's eyes. The floor was made of a strange wood, like it was thin but still sturdy, and covered in endless dents and scratches. From what, Janis had no idea. There were also lines of tape, probably to indicate formations, like Janis had seen faintly on the stage of _The Nutcracker_.

Lining the wall to her right, there were bars jutting out. The walls were rough concrete, and the ceiling rafters were made of slightly rusted metal. Lights dangled down from the rafters, giving off the glow that pierced Janis's eyes. Opposite of the wall with the bar, the wall was covered in a mirror.

Janis had been wrong. Inside the studio, there were already about 7 other students sitting and talking on the floor. At the sound of the door opening, even though it had been quite quiet, they all turned to her. Janis assumed it was because they were trained in the techniques of silence, being ballerinas and all, but it was still a little awkward.

A silence falls upon the room. However, none of the dancers seem to be judging her. Aside from a few whispers, there isn't much negative energy Janis can pick up on.

Several of the girls give her friendly waves or smiles. Janis returns the gestures shyly, before crossing to a spot near the wall that's empty. She sits down, crossing her legs, and takes a sip of her water bottle.

As she waits for the class to begin (why was everyone here so early? Was that a dancer thing?), she scans the dancers through the mirror. There are various different races gathered, and they all have lean bodies with their hair tied up in tight ponytails.

Janis's gaze shifts lazily from every one, not really bothering to take in their features.

Until the last girl.

She has blonde, wavy hair tied up in a medium-height ponytail. Janis could only see half of her face from the mirror, but that was all it took for her breathing to hitch.

The girl had azure blue eyes, wide and earnest as she talked animatedly with the girl sitting beside her, who had fiery red hair and lighter blue eyes. Janis felt her skin grow warm, and immediately shifted her gaze down to her water bottle.

_Fuck, she's cute as hell._

Janis bit her lip, trying to process the situation.

She knew she was attracted to girls - that much was clear from her female crushes from middle school. She'd also had _many_ crushes, which signified that Janis fell for people easily.

It was an extreme weakness, especially because though Janis could fall for people quite easily, they consumed her thoughts every waking hour, and it was torture. She couldn't get their eyes out of her head, and usually her crushes consumed her so badly she'd end up confessing very awkwardly. This would, in turn, cause the girl to spread rumours about the 'weird dyke'.

Eventually Janis had given up on the prospect of crushes, deeming them too painful for her to bear when she got rejected.

At least, she'd _tried_. But her reaction to this girl's appearance alone was an indication that she wasn't doing too well in that department.

Before Janis could have a nervous breakdown for the second time that day, the teacher walked in and the class commenced, thankfully.

The teacher, Ms. Perez, gives the class a brief introduction for Janis. She tells them to sit in a circle and introduce themselves, along with a fact. Though she felt this was kindergarten-level, she still appreciated knowing the girls' names.

Janis _tried_ to look like she cared about the fact that Naomi had a cat named Bluebell, or that Brianna liked to paint as a hobby (actually, she kind of liked that), but she couldn't help but focus all her attention on a certain girl's introduction. The girl who'd caught her eye and had left her feeling like she was going to combust just by the soft features on her skin and her beautiful blue eyes.

"I'm Regina," she begins. Janis's mind latched onto that piece of that information, lets it process. Regina. Meaning ' _queen'_ in Latin. Such a royal name amongst the more common ones.

Regina.

"Um, I've been dancing since I was 5, and I plan to go into it as a professional career," Regina continues, giving Janis a small smile.

Janis swallows thickly and returns it, allowing those brief seconds this interaction gives her to examine Regina more carefully.

She has a lean build, that definitely looks _much_ better in a leotard than Janis ever would. Her skin is tanned and smooth, and her facial features are soft. Her ponytail is draping over her left shoulder quite loosely.

Janis likes Regina. Janis likes Regina a **LOT** , and they're only 10 minutes into the class.

_Well, I'm fucked._

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed :]


End file.
